Clemson coach Swinney not pushing the panic button

Published: Tuesday, October 22, 2013 at 9:55 p.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, October 22, 2013 at 9:55 p.m.

Despite the frustration from Saturday's blowout loss to Florida State that took away the chance for Clemson to control its own destiny toward some of its biggest goals, coach Dabo Swinney isn't pushing the panic button.

Facts

NOTES

TANKERSLEY TO SEE MORE PLAYING TIME: With cornerback Garry Peters (foot) out for Saturday's game at Maryland and corner Bashaud Breeland suspended for the first half due to last Saturday's targeting penalty, first-year freshman Cordrea Tankersley will see additional snaps. The Silver Bluff product has only played three snaps outside of special teams.“He's one of those guys who I'm really excited about,” head coach Dabo Swinney said. “He hasn't really gotten into the mix too much because we've had pretty good depth at corner and those guys have played well.”Swinney doesn't expect Peters back until the Nov. 14 game with Georgia Tech.REDSHIRTS AFOOT: Swinney said defensive tackles Kevin Dodd (foot) and Carlos Watkins (hematoma) could be nearing medical redshirts. Both are listed as out for Saturday. “We have to make a decision on those guys the further this thing goes.”

The Tigers got off to an awful start and things snowballed from there in a 51-14 embarrassment in a matchup that had arguably the biggest buildup of any Clemson game of the past 20 years.

Swinney can find no one major culprit as to why his team has struggled for two weeks now (the Tigers came back in the fourth quarter to beat Boston College two weeks ago), instead saying during his weekly press conference that fundamentals are to blame.

Look no further than the team botching three quarterback exchanges during the 24-14 escape against B.C., leaving Swinney to preach stance, starts, footwork, ball-handling and the like in turning back to the basics.

“What I said to the staff is, 'Let's major in the minors this week,' ” Swinney said. “Let's treat them like they don't know anything. I think that's sometimes something you have to do to get that consistency. Sometimes you get a veteran group and …we've got a lot of guys who know a lot of football offensively and you can start taking some of the little things for granted. But it's the little things that lead to the big things and we've got to get those little things corrected.”

The Tigers entered the B.C. game with only four turnovers before committing six the past two games, and it could've been worse having lost only two of five fumbles against the Eagles. Clemson is a combined 9 of 32 on third downs the past two games and has repeatedly struggled in the red zone, an area that had been a near guarantee dating back to the start of last season.

“Let's get back to being fundamentally sound,” Swinney said. “It's like a symptom and we have to cure it, finding 11 guys to consistently do the job. Nothing matters if you don't take care of the football. That's what we pride ourselves on and we've had a bad little run here the last couple of ball games, particularly the last one. You can't beat anybody turning the ball over four times.”

Swinney disagreed with offensive coordinator Chad Morris' Monday assessment that the lone offensive Tiger playing at a high level was left tackle Brandon Thomas, a former Dorman standout.

“Brandon Thomas is playing really well, extremely well, dominating well, and that's good to see,” Morris told the assembled media. “We're consistently inconsistent right now and that's the biggest thing I've seen over the last two weeks. We've got to get it fixed and get it right. Brandon Thomas is playing really well so there's 10 other positions out there that are not playing consistent, not playing well at all.”

When asked his assessment Tuesday, Swinney replied, “I think that's maybe a little over the top. That's a coordinator who takes a lot of pride in his performance. That's a little frustration. It ain't all bad. We're still one of the best offenses in the country. Heck, we're 17-3 over our last 20 games. We're not going to throw everybody out the window here. We've won a bunch of games and we'll get it fixed and play better. For me, let's get back to the basics. Go back and refocus a little bit on some key things.”

Swinney did set many eyes to rolling and heads to shaking when he favorably compared the Tigers with Florida State despite the walloping his team took at home from a squad now ranked second behind Alabama in the initial BCS Standings.

“I think they're a team that if we played them 10 times, we'd probably win five and they'd probably win five. I think that's probably about where it is. They played a heck of a game and we didn't give ourselves a chance. They're not that much better than us and we're not that bad a football team. It wasn't our night the other night and you give them all the credit for that. It wasn't any one thing, it was just all bad.”

<p>Despite the frustration from Saturday's blowout loss to Florida State that took away the chance for Clemson to control its own destiny toward some of its biggest goals, coach Dabo Swinney isn't pushing the panic button.</p><p>The Tigers got off to an awful start and things snowballed from there in a 51-14 embarrassment in a matchup that had arguably the biggest buildup of any Clemson game of the past 20 years.</p><p>Swinney can find no one major culprit as to why his team has struggled for two weeks now (the Tigers came back in the fourth quarter to beat Boston College two weeks ago), instead saying during his weekly press conference that fundamentals are to blame.</p><p>Look no further than the team botching three quarterback exchanges during the 24-14 escape against B.C., leaving Swinney to preach stance, starts, footwork, ball-handling and the like in turning back to the basics.</p><p>“What I said to the staff is, 'Let's major in the minors this week,' ” Swinney said. “Let's treat them like they don't know anything. I think that's sometimes something you have to do to get that consistency. Sometimes you get a veteran group and …we've got a lot of guys who know a lot of football offensively and you can start taking some of the little things for granted. But it's the little things that lead to the big things and we've got to get those little things corrected.”</p><p>The Tigers entered the B.C. game with only four turnovers before committing six the past two games, and it could've been worse having lost only two of five fumbles against the Eagles. Clemson is a combined 9 of 32 on third downs the past two games and has repeatedly struggled in the red zone, an area that had been a near guarantee dating back to the start of last season.</p><p>“Let's get back to being fundamentally sound,” Swinney said. “It's like a symptom and we have to cure it, finding 11 guys to consistently do the job. Nothing matters if you don't take care of the football. That's what we pride ourselves on and we've had a bad little run here the last couple of ball games, particularly the last one. You can't beat anybody turning the ball over four times.”</p><p>Swinney disagreed with offensive coordinator Chad Morris' Monday assessment that the lone offensive Tiger playing at a high level was left tackle Brandon Thomas, a former Dorman standout.</p><p>“Brandon Thomas is playing really well, extremely well, dominating well, and that's good to see,” Morris told the assembled media. “We're consistently inconsistent right now and that's the biggest thing I've seen over the last two weeks. We've got to get it fixed and get it right. Brandon Thomas is playing really well so there's 10 other positions out there that are not playing consistent, not playing well at all.”</p><p>When asked his assessment Tuesday, Swinney replied, “I think that's maybe a little over the top. That's a coordinator who takes a lot of pride in his performance. That's a little frustration. It ain't all bad. We're still one of the best offenses in the country. Heck, we're 17-3 over our last 20 games. We're not going to throw everybody out the window here. We've won a bunch of games and we'll get it fixed and play better. For me, let's get back to the basics. Go back and refocus a little bit on some key things.”</p><p>Swinney did set many eyes to rolling and heads to shaking when he favorably compared the Tigers with Florida State despite the walloping his team took at home from a squad now ranked second behind Alabama in the initial BCS Standings.</p><p>“I think they're a team that if we played them 10 times, we'd probably win five and they'd probably win five. I think that's probably about where it is. They played a heck of a game and we didn't give ourselves a chance. They're not that much better than us and we're not that bad a football team. It wasn't our night the other night and you give them all the credit for that. It wasn't any one thing, it was just all bad.”</p>